My 2nd Gen iPad Install (LOTS OF PICS)

I started this whole little thing about 6-7 months ago, got sidetracked (Imagine that) and put it off to the side.

*PLEASE EXCUSE MY HEAVY BONDO USE. Lol, im not good at all at laying the bondo down, but in the end, it still/will look good*

It was for a 1st gen iPad to be mounted where the radio is.

I have since sold the iPad, and upgraded to "The New iPad" (Aka 3). The bezel has been just sitting in my room, untouched.

I had also bought a "Sport" console piece to replace my message center, and cupholders. (The Sport piece has larger cupholders, and the big storage cavity).



Roughly painted, and thrown in:


Here was mine, after paint and a rough cutout for the headunit:


I had the "prototype" so to speak all setup. Radio installed, ipad mounted up, etc.


(Dazed & Confused)

The rubberized case I had at the time on the bezel sucked. It was impossible to get the iPad back out. So I ordered a new cheap plastic case from eBay for like 3$



Cut all the middle guts out, and used 2 hot glue sticks to get the piece angled just right.


I dont have many good pictures, but thats about where I stopped and gave up for the time being. I had the radio down in the console for awhile though. This is a bad picture, but about the best one I have to show how it looked.


It didnt quite sit flush, as the console piece was curved, and I needed another 2 cm maybe, after having all the wires connected to the back of the radio.

So lets fast forward many months-

Now I have the New iPad, and I decided to keep going with this project finally. The new iPad is thinner than the 1st gen, BUT it still "fits" in the case I was using. Its alot easier to get out, which is perfect; exactly what I was looking for.

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I started bondo-ing the cavity in the console shut. I figured its a good place to mount the switches and buttons.










Then I cut some thick cardboard out, about 1.25" tall, to extend the radio up from the console a bit:






So I layed the Bondo on again:




Meanwhile- This is how I left this part off:




After alot of sanding, I primered it white so I could find any small imperfections. (Still needs a few spots touched up), but thats how she sits now.





Started sanding this down alot:








Another layer, fixing all the big imperfections, and small holes/bubbles






I still need some soft fabric to lay in the iPad shell to protect it from scratches.

Thats all for today. Time to get ready for work.


All comments/sugestions welcome.

wow thats definitely a cool idea. what are you going to be using the ipad for?

Thanks! Mainly music, (I hate 99% of the iPod/iPhone interfaces on headunits) but also Nav, and of course (when I'm parked), movies. I have a small Bluetooth keyboard that controls pretty much everything so I can use it to browse the net also.

I guess I left a big par out too- ill be tethering data from my iPhone 4S. I've already been playing with it and with 2-3 bars, it's damn close to the speed of average wifi.

That'll be awesome for navigation

Haha yea, the 1st gen was pretty sweet, I used it for a few days when I mocked it up in the dash.

Cool set up man! Keep at it.

Sweet Setup , Be Bad A$$ When Done !!

Thanks guys!

Its coming along great, got the console piece about 80% done (Bondo wise at least), just have to even it out, and fill a couple small holes.

I honestly think for now though, im just gonna go the easy route, and leave the rear wiper/defroster/fog switches behind the bezel. I always have the fogs on, its not cold out anymore, and my rear wiper sucks ass, so I never use it.

I can't wait to see this all finished, looks pretty cool so far!

Lots Of Sanding Work ahead , But Will Be Well Worth It !

Ive already done tons of sanding

But I didnt get anything done today, I was at work until almost 330 am, so I slept quite awhile. Im really hoping to have the console sanded and primered at least tomorrow by the time I goto work. Hopefully the dash bezel by Sunday.

I wanna see more. LOVE watching body work come together and it looks like you know what you are doing. The only thing I would have done different is with the console, used fiberglass over the tray area rather than a piece of cardboard to fit in the void. Over time that area will probably crack out. Especially if you have to take that out for any reason.

Yea fiberglass would have been a great idea...but I'm actually all new to this. I've attempted both bondo and fiberglass before (rear bumper) and epically failed. So this is really pretty much new to me.

I wish I still had my double din Pioneer, that would be sick to have a double din for Nav in the console while still having full iPad control.

They really need to release the jailbreak for 5.1 A5 devices! There's 3 different (2 untethered) jailbreaks but they haven't released them to the public. I really need "Activator" for this install.

I might lay a layer of fiberglass over everything. It will give me peace of mind about cracks, and it will save me butt-loads of work filling all the tiny-ass holes in the bondo.

(Thats starting to get really frusterating)

Well glad its coming along , I'm thinking about doing a sec gen full Console swap but with a Floor Shifter installed , Thats going to be fun to play with !

That would be awesome!


I'm out working on the console right now, had an idea for a little change in style, too hard to explain so I'll just post pictures here in an hour or so.

So this is how it originally was gonna be:



(The bottom couple inches of the case/mount were just open)

I decided to "close" it, I think overall, when finished, it will look more integrated, rather than just "stuck" onto the bezel if that makes any sense.



Console is coming along great, just finishing up leveling the edges/corners and small bumps out.

Looking Good Brian , Glad you filled in that void , it will look much better when its all said and done , Keep up the good work !

It is coming along great. Should a a really cool addition to your system. Just curious, isn't that ipad going to cover the climate control?